Molecular dynamics simulation reveals DNA-specific recognition mechanism via c-Myb in pseudo-palindromic consensus of mim-1 promoter / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

This study aims to gain insight into the DNA-specific recognition mechanism of c-Myb transcription factor during the regulation of cell early differentiation and proliferation. Therefore, we chose the chicken myeloid gene, mitochondrial import protein 1 (mim-1), as a target to study the binding specificity between potential dual-Myb-binding sites. The c-Myb-binding site in mim-1 is a pseudo-palindromic sequence AACGGTT, which contains two AACNG consensuses. Simulation studies in different biological scenarios revealed that c-Myb binding with mim-1 in the forward strand (complex F) ismore stable than that inthereverse strand (complex R). The principal component analysis (PCA) dynamics trajectory analyses suggested an opening motion of the recognition helices of R2 and R3 (R2R3), resulting in the dissociation of DNA from c-Myb in complex R at 330 K, triggered by the reduced electrostatic potential on the surface of R2R3. Furthermore, the DNA confirmation and hydrogen-bond interaction analyses indicated that the major groove width of DNA increased in complex R, which affected on the hydrogen-bond formation ability between R2R3 and DNA, and directly resulted in the dissociation of DNA from R2R3. The steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulation studies also suggested that the electrostatic potential, major groove width, and hydrogen bonds made major contribution to the DNA‍-specific recognition. In vitro trials confirmed the simulation results that c-Myb specifically bound to mim-1 in the forward strand. This study indicates that the three-dimensional (3D) structure features play an important role in the DNA-specific recognition mechanism by c-Myb besides the AACNG consensuses, which is beneficial to understanding the cell early differentiation and proliferation regulated by c-Myb, as well as the prediction of novel c-Myb-binding motifs in tumorigenesis.

Progress of serum amyloid A in diagnosis and treatment of neonatal infectious diseases / 国际儿科学杂志

Neonatal infection related diseases are the main causes of neonatal death and disability.Traditional inflammatory factors, such as peripheral blood leucocyte count, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin play an important role in indicating neonatal infectious diseases.However, its sensitivity, specificity and effectiveness still need to be improved.Many studies have shown that the expression of serum amyloid A(SAA)increase significantly in various infectious diseases of neonates, and it has received more and more attention as a new type of infection-related indicator.This article reviews the research progress on the structural characteristics of serum amyloid A, detection methods and its clinical application in various neonatal infectious diseases, follow-up of disease changes, guidance of antibiotic use and evaluation of prognosis.